3.1. ROS Package QuickStarts

3.1.1. Introduction

This section provides a quick start to using the Orbbec ROS 1 wrapper. You will learn how to:

Launch a camera node.
Visualize depth/color streams in RViz.
Interact with topics and services using ROS 1 CLI tools.

3.1.2. Build your First Camera Application

3.1.2.1. Step 1: Source ROS 1 and Workspace

Make sure ROS 1 and your workspace environment are sourced:

source /opt/ros/$ROS_DISTRO/setup.bash
source ~/ros_ws/devel/setup.bash

3.1.2.2. Step 2: Launch the Camera Node

On terminal 1

roscd orbbec_camera
rosrun orbbec_camera list_devices_node   # Check if the camera is connected
roslaunch orbbec_camera gemini_330_series.launch   # Or other launch file

If you have multiple cameras connected, you can specify the serial number:

roslaunch orbbec_camera gemini_330_series.launch serial_number:=<YourCameraSN>

3.1.2.3. Step 3: Visualize in RViz

Launch RViz and load the default config:

On terminal 2

rviz

Add an Image display, set topic to /camera/color/image_raw.
Add another Image display for /camera/depth/image_raw.
Optionally, add a PointCloud2 display for /camera/depth/points.

You should now see the color stream, depth stream, and 3D point cloud in RViz.

3.1.3. Sample Features

After the node is running, try some ROS 1 CLI commands:

3.1.3.1. List available topics / services / parameters

rostopic list
rosservice list
rosparam list

3.1.3.2. Echo a topic

View depth camera data:

rostopic echo /camera/depth/camera_info

3.1.3.3. Call a service

For example, get device Information:

rosservice call /camera/get_device_info "{}"

3.1.3.4. Record with rosbag

rosbag record /camera/color/image_raw /camera/depth/image_raw